Day 90 – An Early (and Unpleasant) Start

Around about 9:30PM, I heard some shouting and a smash. The flat next to me and both flats upstairs have kids, so shouting and the odd thump isn’t unusual. It’s actually kind of reassuring.

About 10:30PM, I nipped out to the shop across the road. I noticed that the glass door to the lobby had been smashed from the inside out. The lift door has also been jammed open on the ground floor. I tweeted, worrying about whether I should call the police or not. I decided not, thinking the vandal either wouldn’t be back or would have calmed down.

Around about 1AM, as I was drifting off to sleep, I noticed some thumping. I didn’t give it much thought until about it had gone on for about ten minutes or so. Then I noticed there was also a smashing sound. After sticking my head out the window, noticing a car that might be a police car (they aren’t as garish in Belgium as they are in Scotland) and thinking about going downstairs to investigate, I called the police.

For reference, the EU-wide emergency number is 112. If you phone this in Belgium, it puts you through to the ambulance line. 110 is the police number here. I presume 111 gets you the fire brigade. Also useful to know is the fact that the emergency operators in Belgium speak fluent English, although you might need to repeat “Parle vu Anglais” a few times before they realise.

After I’d given him the details, the operator informed me that there was a car at the scene with a second car on the way. There had also been other reports of a domestic dispute. Since then, the thumping has stopped, but the lift has been going up and down a lot and there was the sound of a child crying coming from upstairs. As of 1:30AM, the police cars have gone. It’s all rather horrible.

Of course, I’m now wired on adrenalin. I did send a text to my manager saying that I might be late in tomorrow. I think being up till 1:30AM due to a police incident might be a reasonable excuse in this case.

Last time I had a night like this was about four years ago when a couple where having a violent domestic in the car-park beside my flat in Maryhill. It was equally horrible, possibly even worse. I just hope the poor woman in that case got good support and got rid of the fellow ASAP.

I am glad to say that this doesn’t reflect my experience in Brussels overall. It’s just the sort of event which happens all too frequently all over the world. The sort of thing which really needs to be stopped, and can be stopped if people act with more sense and maturity.

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2 thoughts on “Day 90 – An Early (and Unpleasant) Start”

Sounds pretty grim. I found Brussels fairly safe on the whole, but also had a slightly unsettling experience of random violence. I was on my way home with friends, and we were outside one friend’s flat (not far from the European complex) chatting when a guy ran up and punched my friend in the face. Very weird and frightening. The police came and we drove round looking for the attacker, but to no avail.

The police offered to drive me home – what was actually kind of disturbing is when I told the police where I lived, they were taken aback and said it wasn’t so safe there! Way to reassure me…

To be fair, the incident the other night was the only violent incident my manager, the agri advisor (who lives in the same area) or I have actually encountered in Brussels. Mis-fortune of the draw it seems.